Light-emitting semiconductor component

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of application Ser. No. 10/308,079, filed Dec. 2, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,784,027; this application also claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of German patent application No. 101 58 754.6, filed Nov. 30, 2001. The prior applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The invention relates to a light-emitting semiconductor component having a semiconductor element with an active layered structure, electrical contacts for impressing a current into the active layered structure, a carrier acting as a heat sink for the semiconductor element, and a adhesive electrically and thermally connecting the semiconductor element to the carrier.

[0003] During operation of such a semiconductor component, waste heat is generated in the semiconductor element, in particular in its active layer, which is for example, a pn-type junction, and at the electrical contacts for impressing a current into the active layer. In order to conduct this heat away to the carrier that functions as a heat sink and that has the largest possible thermal capacity, one of the side faces of the semiconductor element is generally connected to the carrier.

[0004] In this context there is the problem that, when electrically adhesives that are conventionally available for this purpose are used to conductively mount the semiconductor element on the carrier, the layer of conductive adhesive, which typically has a thickness of 5 μm to 10 μm, significantly increases the overall thermal resistance R_th between the active region of the LED chip and the carrier that serves as a heat sink. This leads to a reduction of the flow of heat into the heat sink and causes the occurrence of relatively high temperatures, which ultimately restrict the achievable optical power, in the active region of the component.

[0005] Hitherto, this increased thermal resistance has been accepted in most applications. In critical applications, other mounting techniques have been used, for example, the chips are soldered onto the carrier. However, this is associated with an increased degree of expenditure for mounting.

[0006] It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a light-emitting semiconductor component of the type mentioned at the beginning, in which the thermal connection of the semiconductor element to the heat-absorbing carrier is improved as compared to the prior art semiconductor components of this type.

[0007] With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a light-emitting semiconductor component, including: a semiconductor element including an active layered structure; electrical contacts for impressing a current into the active layered structure; a carrier for the semiconductor element, the carrier acting as a is heat sink; and an adhesive connecting the carrier to the semiconductor element. The adhesive, according to certain variations of the inventive concept, may be electrically and/or thermally conductive. The semiconductor element has a side facing the carrier. This side, which is a rear side, is formed with a plurality of recesses for accommodating a portion of the adhesive between the semiconductor element and the carrier.

[0008] According to the invention, in a light-emitting semiconductor component of the type mentioned at the beginning, recesses, which accommodate a part of the adhesive when the semiconductor element is connected to the carrier, are provided in the side of the semiconductor element facing the carrier.

[0009] The adhesives that are conventionally available for connecting the semiconductor element and the carrier generally have a much smaller thermal conductivity than the semiconductor material of the semiconductor element itself. In the invention, in order to reduce the problems associated with conducting heat away, the mounting side of the semiconductor element is patterned in such a way that during the connection (chip bonding), the adhesive can largely flow into the recesses that are provided. As a result, even when there is the same overall volume of adhesive, the layer of adhesive remaining between the recesses is dilated to such an extent that in these regions the layer of adhesive only has a small thermal resistance between the semiconductor element and the carrier and only makes a small contribution to the overall thermal resistance between the active layer and the carrier.

[0010] The thermal resistance of the adhesive that has flowed into the recess is itself largely bridged by the semiconductor material having a higher thermal conductivity which now extends in regions almost as far as the carrier. This results overall in a significantly reduced overall thermal resistance.

[0011] The recesses are preferably formed as elongated trenches with, for example, a square, rectangular, triangular, or trapezoidal cross section. This permits the rear side of the semiconductor element to be structured easily, for example, by sawing, milling, or etching.

[0012] The recesses can preferably also be produced in the form of square, pyramid-shaped, or conical pits. This also permits easy structuring of the rear side of the semiconductor element.

[0013] In conventional semiconductor elements that are mounted on the carrier by their substrate on which the active layer is located, it has proven expedient if the recesses have a depth of 2 μm to 80 μm, preferably of 5 μm to 40 μm, particularly preferably of approximately 10 μm to approximately 20 μm. Likewise, the recesses can advantageously have a depth of 1% to 40%, preferably of 2% to 20%, particularly preferably of approximately 5% to approximately 10%, of the thickness of the semiconductor element. Here, the depth of the recesses is measured from the rear-side surface of the semiconductor element from which the recesses extend into the semiconductor element.

[0014] Advantageously 10% to 90%, preferably 25% to 75%, particularly preferably approximately 40% to approximately 60%, of the rear side of the semiconductor element is occupied.

[0015] Here, the degree of occupancy is the ratio between the area of the rear side of the semiconductor element that remains between the recesses to the overall area of the lower surface of the semiconductor element including the recesses. If, for example, recesses with an overall area of 40,000 μm² (for example 16 square recesses with a surface area of 50×50 μm²) are introduced into an LED chip with an area of 300×300 μm²=90,000 μm², a degree of occupancy of 5/9=55.5% results from the remaining unpatterned area of 50,000 μm².

[0016] The entire output surface of the recesses and the depth of the recesses are inversely proportional to one another. If, for example, a greater depth of the recesses is selected, a smaller output surface is enough to absorb a sufficient quantity of conductive adhesive in the volume of the recesses. Conversely, when the depth of the recesses is smaller, a larger output surface is generally necessary in order to achieve a significant reduction in the thermal resistance.

[0017] Basically, the depth and degree of occupancy of the recesses are proportional to the typical layer thickness of the conductive adhesive that is determined when a semiconductor element with the same area, but without recesses is applied. If a layer thickness of 5 μm, for example, is obtained with a specific adhesive, it is possible, for example with a degree of occupancy of 50%, to accommodate essentially the entire volume of adhesive of 10 μm-deep recesses. All that then remains is a thin continuous adhesive layer between the rear side of the semiconductor element and the carrier.

[0018] With this degree of occupancy, deeper recesses do not provide any further advantage as no additional adhesive can be accommodated, but the thermal resistance rises again because of the larger structured volume.

[0019] Flatter recesses do not accommodate the entire volume of adhesive, and in doing so leave a thicker continuous adhesive layer between the rear side of the semiconductor element and the carrier, thus resulting in a higher overall thermal resistance.

[0020] The same considerations apply if a different degree of occupancy is selected.

[0021] In one preferred refinement, the recesses on the rear side of the semiconductor element each have the same shape and output surface.

[0022] In particular, the recesses may be arranged on the rear side of the semiconductor element in the form of a regular grid. Both of the aforesaid measures lead to the heat being uniformly conducted away via the semiconductor/carrier boundary face, and permit simple processing.

[0023] In order to conduct the heat away as uniformly as possible, the recesses may be arranged on the rear side of the semiconductor element in an arrangement with the symmetry of the semiconductor component itself.

[0024] The depth and overall output surface of the recesses are advantageously selected in such a way that a continuous thin layer of the conductive adhesive remains between the rear side of the semiconductor element and the front side of the carrier.

[0025] Here, the continuous thin layer has, in preferred refinements, a thickness of 0.01 μm to 1 μm, where values of 0.05 μm to 0.25 μm are preferred.

[0026] In one refinement, the semiconductor element of the light-emitting semiconductor component includes a GaAs substrate.

[0027] Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

[0028] Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a light-emitting semiconductor component, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

[0029] The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0036] Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a prior art LED 1 for illustrating the initial problem. The semiconductor element 2 of the LED contains, as is customary for LEDs in the infrared, red or yellow spectral region, a GaAs substrate and an active layer 14, for example, a structure with a simple pn-type junction, a quantum well structure or a multiple quantum well structure.

[0037] Current is impressed into the active layer 14 via an n-side contact and a p-side contact (not illustrated). The p-side contact is more critical in terms of the generation of waste heat because of the higher specific resistance than the n-side contact. In the LED 1, the p-side contact has a metallic contact pad 18 and a current widening layer 16 for homogeneously broadening the current density over the area of the active layer 14 formed as a pn-type junction.

[0038] Waste heat, for example, as a result of non-radiating recombination processes or as a result of ohmic losses, is produced predominantly in the region of the pn-type junction 14 and of the p-side contact 16, 18 at the front side 15 of the LED chip 2.

[0039] For conducting away heat, the LED chip 2 is, inter alia, applied with a conductive adhesive 4 to a carrier 20 of an LED housing (not illustrated in more detail). The conductive adhesive brings about both a thermal connection and an electrical connection of the LED chip 2 and carrier 20.

[0040] As the bonded rear side 13 of the chip 2 is essentially planar, during the bonding, a continuous layer 4 of conductive adhesive which is uniform, apart from surface roughnesses, is typically produced with a thickness d₂ in the region of 5 μm to 10 μm between the chip and carrier. Outside the chip 2, thicker edge regions 3 are produced as a result of adhesive flowing out during the connection process.

[0041] As the main heat sources are located near the front side 15 of, the LED chip 2, the heat must cross virtually the entire thickness d₁ of the chip 2 and the layer of adhesive of thickness d₂ before it flows away into the carrier 20.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of the thermal resistance of the configuration shown in FIG. 1. The reference symbol 60 designates the thermal resistance R_th(SC) of the semiconductor element 2, which is obtained essentially using:
R_th(SC)=d₁/(λ_GaAs*A),
λ_GaAs=46 W/(m*K) representing the thermal conductivity of the GaAs substrate, and A representing the cross-sectional area of the substrate perpendicular to the flow of heat.

[0043] The reference symbol 62 designates the thermal resistance R_th(adhesive) of the layer 4 of conductive adhesive, which is given by
R_th(adhesive)=d₂/(λ_adhesive*A),
the thermal conductivity of the conductive adhesive λ_Adhesive having a value in the region of 2 W/(m*K), and, for example, a value of 1.8 W/(m*K) for a typical conductive adhesive.

[0044] The proportion of the thermal resistance of the metallization of the rear side of the chip with respect to the thermal resistance (reference symbol 64) is small compared with the thermal resistances 60 and 62, and can therefore be ignored, as is indicated in FIG. 2 by the dashed lines.

[0045] As the thermal resistance of the conductive adhesive is smaller, by a factor of approximately 20, than that of the semiconductor material, the conductive adhesive layer contributes appreciably, despite its low thickness, to the overall thermal resistance:
R_overall(SdT)=R_th(SC)+R_th(adhesive).

[0046] Given a thickness of the semiconductor element of 220 μm and an area of 300×300 μm², an overall thermal resistance of R_overall(SdT)=85 K/W is obtained. The overall thermal resistance is made up of a proportion of the semiconductor element 2 of R_th(SC)=54 K/W, and a proportion of the conductive adhesive layer 4 of R_th(adhesive)=31 K/W.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a semiconductor component, specifically an LED designated generally by 10. Functionally identical elements are provided here with the same reference symbols as in FIG. 1 and are not explained again.

[0048] A number of recesses 22 are provided in the semiconductor element 12 of the LED 10 from the rear side 13—only three of these recesses are shown schematically in the illustration in FIG. 3. In the exemplary embodiment, the recesses 22 are arranged in the form of a regular rectangular grid which reflects the four-fold symmetry of the rectangular LED chip 12.

[0049] The recesses 22 are provided with a degree of occupancy of 50%, that is to say the entire output surface of the recesses 22 on the rear side 13 takes up a proportion of 50% of the entire area of the rear side 13. From the rear side 13, the recesses extend into the semiconductor element 12 to a depth d. They divide the semiconductor element 12 into a region without patterning having a thickness d₁-d and into a patterned region of thickness d.

[0050] In the exemplary embodiment it was found that the conductive adhesive layer has a thickness of approximately 5 μm when a semiconductor element is bonded without recesses. Therefore, with a degree of occupancy of 50% a value of d=10 μm was selected for the depth of the recesses.

[0051] With this depth, the square recesses 22 can accommodate in their interior (reference symbol 34) essentially the entire volume of conductive adhesive that was arranged between the LED chip 2 and the carrier 20 as a conductive adhesive layer 4 with the conventional design in FIG. 1. Only one comparatively thin continuous conductive adhesive layer 32 of thickness d₃ remains between the rear side 13 of the semiconductor element and the front side of the carrier 20. The thickness d₃ here can be in the order of magnitude of between approximately 0.01 μm to 1 μm, and is preferably between approximately 0.05 μm and approximately 0.25 μm.

[0052] This configuration can be described by the equivalent circuit diagram for the thermal resistance that is given in FIG. 4. Here, in a way analogous to the representation in FIG. 2, the reference symbol 70 designates the thermal resistance R_th(unpatterned) of the unpatterned part of the semiconductor element 12,
R_th(unpatterned)=(d₁−d)/(λ_GaAs*A).

[0053] The reference symbol 72 designates the thermal resistance R_th(struct: HL) of the structured part of the semiconductor element 12, given by

 R_th(struct: HL)=d/(λ_GaAs*b*A),

where b represents the degree of occupancy. Reference symbol 74 characterizes the thermal resistance R_th(struct:adhesive) of the conductive adhesive 34 which is accommodated in the recesses, with:
R_th(struct: adhesive)=d/(λ_adhesive*(1−b)*A).

[0054] Reference symbol 76 finally designates the thermal resistance of the thin continuous conductive adhesive layer:
R_th(adhesive)=d₃/(λ_adhesive*A).

[0055] In accordance with the selected geometry, the flow of heat flows in parallel through the patterned part of the substrate and the adhesive accommodated in the recesses so that the thermal resistance for this section is, as shown in the equivalent circuit diagram, given by parallel connection of the thermal resistances 72 and 74. The thermal resistances of the unpatterned part of the substrate 70 and of the continuous conductive adhesive layer 76 are in series with respect to this, as is indicated by the series connection in FIG. 4.

[0056] According to the invention, for the structure shown in FIG. 3 with a thickness of the semiconductor element 12 of d₁=220 μm, an area of 300×300 μm², an arrangement of the recesses with a degree of occupancy of 50%, that is to say b=0.5 and a depth of d=10 μm, and a thickness of the remaining continuous conductive adhesive layer of d₃=0.1 μm, the overall thermal resistance that is obtained is:
R_overall(Inv)=R_th(unpatterned)+1/[1/R_th(struct: HL)+1/R_th(struct: adhesive)]+R_th(adhesive).

[0057] Using the relationships stated, a thermal resistance of R_overall(Inv)=57 K/W is obtained. In comparison with the value of a conventional unpatterned LED chip of R_overall(SdT)=85 K/W, this value is considerably reduced, to almost the thermal resistance R_th(SC) of the semiconductor element alone, which was determined above as 54 K/W. This means that, by means of the above-described patterning of the LED chip on its rear side (=mounting side toward the carrier), the proportion of the overall thermal resistance of the junction between the active layer and the carrier which originates from the conductive adhesive is reduced from the abovementioned value of 31 K/W to approximately 3 K/W, that is to say by approximately 90%.

[0058] FIG. 5 represents the profile of the overall thermal resistance R_ges as a function of the depth of the recesses for the structure shown in FIG. 3 with a constant degree of occupancy of b=0.5. The reference symbol 80 indicates that the value of the overall resistance of the semiconductor element and the conductive adhesive without using patterning is 85 K/W. The reference symbol 82 indicates the lower limit—the thermal resistance of the semiconductor element 12 alone.

[0059] Here, the simulation is based on the assumption that the overall volume of the adhesive remains constant below the semiconductor element 12. That is to say that, when the LED chip is inserted into the adhesive, the amount of adhesive which is forced out to the side is not more or less than in a conventional LED without patterning. As long as sufficient adhesive is present between the LED chip and the carrier, in the present case for d<10 μm, a continuous adhesive layer of the thickness d₃=d₂−b*d is assumed. For deeper structures for which d₃ would become zero or negative, a constant thickness of the remaining continuous adhesive layer of d₃=0.1 μm is assumed.

[0060] The profile 84 of the overall thermal resistance is then broken down into two parts. Starting from R_th=85 K/W, the thermal resistance initially decreases as the structure depth increases, until at approximately d=10 μm almost the entire volume of the adhesive is accommodated in the depressions in the patterning (reference symbol 86). The thermal resistance then assumes the above-mentioned value of approximately 57 K/W, just above the thermal resistance of the element without any conductive adhesive.

[0061] For still greater depths of patterning, the thermal resistance increases again as the heat has to flow via higher and higher GaAs pillars without this effect being able to be compensated, as previously, by a further decrease in the thermal resistance of the continuous adhesive layer. This results in a minimum value of the overall thermal resistance, that is to say an optimum thickness for the selected degree of occupancy at a depth of patterning of approximately 10 μm.

[0062] It is apparent that the optimum depth depends on the selected degree of occupancy. For example, the optimum depth with a degree of occupancy of 75%, that is to say a proportion of the area of the recesses of 25%, is approximately 20 μm. Then, essentially the entire volume of adhesive is again accommodated by the recesses and only a thin residual layer remains between the semiconductor element and the carrier.

[0063] On the basis of the preceding information, one of ordinary skill in the art can easily select, without departing from the basic idea of the invention, a suitable combination of degree of occupancy and patterning depth which both results in a low overall thermal resistance and fulfills the requirement for patterning processes (no excessively deep recesses) which can be carried out satisfactorily and easily, and the requirement in terms of mechanical stability (no excessively small degree of occupancy).

[0064] It will be understood that the invention is not limited to electrically conductive adhesives, since the benefit of reducing the thermal resistance between the semiconductor element and the carrier can also be achieved with the current invention using an electrically insulating adhesive.

[0065] FIG. 6 shows an LED 10 that comprises a first and a second contact 18, 28 for electrically connecting the LED 10. Both contacts are disposed on a side of the LED facing away from the carrier 20. This is achieved by etching away a part of the active layer in order to expose semiconductor material of the other doping type which is arranged below the pn-juntion 14 (by way of example, the first contact 18 is a p-side contact and the second contact 28 is an n-side contact). The LED is thermally connected to the carrier 20 via an electrically insulating adhesive 34. Of course, electrically conductive adhesive might be used as well, although it is not necessary in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6.